After exhaustion delays her trip, Kiela sleeps soundly in the cottage and wakes at dawn to Caz's warning that Larran has returned. He leaves without intruding this time, depositing a basket of cinnamon raisin buns, eggs, and cheese with a note reading "Welcome home." The food is delicious, but the word "home" stirs conflicted emotions in Kiela.

Determined to cook the eggs, Kiela attempts to light the wood stove despite knowing nothing about it. The fire quickly fills the cottage with smoke, triggering traumatic memories of the burning library and the canals full of bodies. She and Caz extinguish it with jars of water and stumble outside, shaken. Caz suggests sticking to cold food, but Kiela insists she must go to the village for supplies. Caz declines to come, fearing herbivores might eat him.

Kiela follows Larran's cleared path to a cliff overlooking the sea and the village below, where she sees Larran on a boat directing his merhorses out to fisherfolk. She descends the wind-battered stairs and walks into Caltrey, noticing the village has fallen on hard times: peeling paint, storm damage, thin children, and a dry, broken fountain where a beloved mermaid statue stands armless.

Following harp music, Kiela finds a thriving bakery where retired villagers gather. A four-armed harpist, an elderly centaur named Eadie, a silver-scaled man, a goat-horned boy, and others stare at her. Eadie recognizes Kiela as Binna Orobidan's daughter. Kiela reveals her parents died, and a grumpy islander suspects she'll bring trouble from the city. The friendly antlered baker, Bryn, defends Kiela and ushers her inside to help with supplies. When Bryn asks what she needs, Kiela—privately overwhelmed by all she truly lacks—asks for food, seeds, and maybe a chicken.